Underground offers 'fair' five-year deal

London Underground today made a five-year pay offer to unions it said would see staff get a 4% pay rise in the first year followed by a rise of inflation plus 0.25% in subsequent years.

The "fair and affordable" offer included moves to examine issues raised by the unions, including working on statutory public holidays and the company's family-friendly policies.

Howard Collins, LU's chief operating officer, said: "We've today made what we believe is a very fair and affordable multi-year pay offer to the trade unions, which will see staff gain real-terms pay increases and stability over the coming years."

The proposed deal would cover the period from April 2011 to April 2016, which also includes the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The previous pay deal, which saw staff get a 1.5% increase in year one and RPI inflation plus 0.5% in year two, expires this month.